“Oneal has admitted that he killed Kenyatta, but claims that it was only because she was attacked by their children, forcing him to kill her in self-defense”

Please, I have read this sentence 25 times and I still don’t understand — why would he need to kill her in “self-defence” if she was the one being attacked?!

Even if it was a typo and *he* was being attacked by their children, it still doesn’t explain why he would need to kill their mother in self-defence! Help!